Bin
by grandpa garbage
Summary: The most unsatisfying finished fanfiction, as it really is just a compilation of many smaller, unfinished fanfictions, in no particular order. Rin/Len, Rin/Len, and more Rin/Len


You know how I promised a fic of A Lot of Unfinished Rin/Len Fics That I Have Written? Yes. That is this.

It would actually total like 50,000 words if I still had access to my old laptop, but alas, it dead, and it's also with my parents, who are very far away because Australia is Very Big.

So here's what I scavenged from my google docs. Some were vents, some were just for fun, some were song fics (there's a spice!au in there too, so have fun) and like... one was going to be for a friend's birthday, but then that never happened because I suck, and it's kind of too late to whip it out now anyway bc we don't talk anymore. Lol. I'll cry about that later.

And actually, to be honest, I do have other old fics on a hard drive of mine, but we're talking like 2012-2014 old, and I feel like anything prior to 2014 isn't relevant to Piriluk lol. Plus, people die a lot and I just rip off a lot of Cooler, Better Fanfictions with my Bad Writing. Wheeeeeeee.

I also copied this over from a conveniently pre-witten A/N on one of the stories, as it is still relevant:

 _hey guys! welcome back to another episode 'I'm Sick Of Piri's Shit'! starring: piri! who is also sick of her shit!_

So here's all my Word Vomit, unedited and as it was in google docs because I'm too lazy to read through each individual piece and correct them. Enjoy!

* * *

That boy on the third floor of the mansion building - the one who went to her school and was the class captain.

He was the one.

By terms of 'the one', she didn't know. She would probably never know.

But he was special. Like they knew each other well in a previous lifetime, she was drawn to him. She wanted to know him, to learn about him, to love him.

It was a pity she could never close the distance. Quiet, shy, reserved Rin would never make a move so bold to approach the boy. Not when he could see the bruises and cuts on her body. Not when he could judge her appearance just like everyone else did. It was far too dangerous, far too damaging.

At least he smiled hesitantly every time they met gazes. That was enough.

She sighed, watching his tuft of blonde disappear into the elevator. Over and over again, she told herself, _it's better this way._

Gathering the pieces of her broken heart and soul, she began her long and last journey to the roof.

 **.**

 **Your Time is Out**

.

there was no such thing as a 'second chance'. once you did it you were gone. and he knew that. and he was sure he was going to do it.

.

One particular day, he noticed something strange about the dates.

* * *

 **The Study of Amphibians in their Natural Habitat**

(aka, i wanna shove cliches into my ass and cry)

.

Finally, after 17 or so years of being alive, it struck Kagamine Rin that, unfortunately, the world was made for girls like Hatsune Miku… and not herself.

Yes, yes - it took her _that_ long to figure an already dead-obvious matter of fact, but she was just dense like that. Not dense as in the density of the glass in her glasses, but dense as in that she still believed that there was a possibility her majestic prince on a white horse would come riding along one day to sweep her off her feet and throw her to the sharks.

It was her fault, indeed, for reading too many soppy romances in her younger years, making her believe in some petty fantasy that a woman could not live without a man - or men - worshipping her. So she spent a lot of time chasing after boys - or, to be politically correct, _a boy_ \- in hopes that she could fulfil such a cliched happy ending.

Alas, it was just a waste of time. By the time she turned 15, she learnt the hard way: Len, her childhood best friend slash mega-super-huge-creepy crush, was extremely disinterested. He had distanced himself from her as if she had the plague, and began to intermingle with and date other girls who had fallen for his charms.

Why he hadn't tried seducing her first - considering she was, after all, his best friend of 11 years, and clearly head over heels for him - was beyond her, but she decided to blame it on her looks. She was just too ugly - too ugly for even a boy who was her so-called bestie to try testing out his flirting skills on.

Woe. Woe, indeed.

Cue the revenge era of Kagamine Rin's life - from that time of realisation until the present, she lived to _crush_ Len's itty bitty hairy balls in the palm of her hand. God forbid he look at her, no, even _breathed_ in her direction - not that he _did_ , but, uh, well - for she would rip out his throat with the speed of a cheetah and feed it to his fangirls on a golden platter. How dare he waste her life, only to ditch her for some unconventional foursome relationship with Miku, Meiko and Luka (but primarily Miku). The darned pipsqueak was _going to pay_.

Somehow.

But first and foremost, Hatsune Miku. Why, _why_ Len chose _Hatsune Miku_ , of _all_ people, to copulate with was beyond Rin.

Or not so.

You see, Rin would like to think the tealette was some ugly cow born out of thorns and the depths of hell, but she wasn't. She was _extremely_ pretty. And intelligent. And well spoken. But she was also a _sly fox_ who could manipulate people to follow her every command.

It was only inevitable that Len fell for her charms. Or Miku fell for his charms. Or whatever - they were just as bad as each other.

Hence, the sticky situation Rin was currently caught in.

"Nngh, _Len_ …" the blonde heard Miku sigh from the opposite side of the music classroom.

She almost swore, catching sight of bare skin unintentionally, ducking back into the prac room she was using during the lunch break before she was spotted by the perpetrators. _When did they get here?_ her mind demanded, peering through the glass of the door's window, spotting the pair bent over in an uncomfortable position on a desk.

It was only her luck she'd end up in a situation as awkward as this, let alone find a way _out_ of it. Why they had to choose the music room, and not somewhere more suitable, to fornicate in was beyond her - but at the same time, she felt _unsurprised_ that this would happen, and that by fate, they would choose the music room _she_ was in to give her a second lesson on human mating rituals.

The gods were telling her something - surely.

 _Get laid, Rin._

No, that must be a mistake.

Miku's shirt was soon unbuttoned - Len's, carelessly tossed aside - and she was sure any minute now, she was going to see things that she would never be able to forget. Now _that_ made her panic.

If the stupid boy took a second to look up from the breasts in front of his face, he would spot Rin's horrified expression through the glass window. Alas, he did not. So, tragically, she was stuck there watching her ex-best friend about to go down on a girl - not even _willingly_.

Then something happened.

Something _bad_ happened.

The two horndogs paused mid-action, as if they were listening for something. Promptly, in one swift movement, Len leapt off Miku and grabbed his shirt, soaring towards the prac room - yes, you guessed it - that _Rin_ was in.

Oh boy.

Before he spotted her, she ducked away, consequently being sandwiched between the wall and the door as Boner Boy took cover in the prac room. Where Miku had gone to hide from whoever - most likely a teacher - or whether he'd left her half-naked in the middle of the classroom was a question Rin would never know the answer to.

She froze, holding her breath, sinking down into the darkness of the room as Len stopped to regain his composure and button up his shirt, facing the opposite direction.

 _Don't turn around, don't turn around_ , she prayed - then he turned around.

Immediately, before he could register who he was even looking at, Rin took her piano book and slogged it at his face, letting out a high-pitched scream of bloody murder. She got up from her crouching position and took his stunned silence as her ticket to flee the scene.

"Kagamine Rin! What was that - _screaming?_ Why are you running in the classroom?" Ms Megurine barked as soon as she emerged from the prac room. Oh. Shit. She didn't think _that_ move through. Then Len emerged, looking confused. "K- _Kagamine Len?_ You were _both_ in there?! You told me you were by yourself, Ms Kagamine -"

"I _was_ ," Rin blurted, "I was until he _appeared,_ half-naked -"

"Half-naked?!" Ms Megurine squawked.

Len burned a dark shade of crimson. "I was _so not_ half-naked! She screamed and threw a book at me!"

"You suddenly entered the room!"

"I didn't even know you were _in there_ \- wait, what _were_ you doing in there?" Uh oh. He was finally catching on.

Rin folded her arms over her chest and narrowed her gaze. "I was working on assessment. What were _you_ doing in there?"

He blinked, knowing full and well that she knew - and saw - _everything_. Swallowing, he began to stutter out, "Uh, I - um, I, uh… I, er -"

"No need to interrogate Mr Kagamine, Mrs- er, Ms Kagamine," the pinkette interrupted with a tired sigh. She pulled out the dreaded _yellow sheets of doom_ from a folder on the teacher's desk. "You will both have an interrogation anyhow in the principal's office this afternoon."

When Len saw Rin's pale face, he snickered. Her parents were going to _whoop_ her ass when they hear wind of this. "B- but Ms Megurine, I did nothing wrong -"

"Save it for later, Ms Kagamine," the teacher retaliated in a monotonous voice. "Screaming, running in a classroom and throwing objects at other people _do_ violate the school's rules and equity, as far as I'm concerned. If you don't show to this appointment, you will have a call home to your parents and a week of detention."

She felt like she was going to cry. This was _unfair_. _She_ was the one who happened to be stuck watching an R-rated roleplay live, not to mention now _she_ was probably being mistaken for doing dirty things in the dark with Len. Her pride had been _completely_ obliterated. Miku had probably seen the entire scene play out and was cackling her pretty little butt off in the corner of the room somewhere.

"Don't let it bother you," Len's voice said as she trudged out of the room, humiliated. For a second, he sounded almost like old, normal, non-promiscuous Len until she glanced up and saw the smirk on his face. _Ugh_. "Everyone's gotta go to the principal office at least _once_."

"Maybe by _your_ standards," Rin shot back with a glare. "But not by _mine_."

He snorted, holding up her piano book. "Fair enough, _Mrs_ Kagamine," he said, mocking Ms Megurine's fatal slip up. She felt herself turn red, holding back venomous words to argue against him with. He then handed over her book and turned away, tucking his hands into his pockets. "I guess it's a date - you, me, the principal's office, huh Rinnie?"

She stiffened at the pet name - something that was still a little sensitive to think about. It used to be his nickname for her, and in turn, she'd call him Lennie.

Of course, now, such a name in this context just made her blood go cold.

 _Ugh_. She wanted to go punch something (or someone, like Len).

.

"You're keen," a voice said from behind, making Rin start in her seat. Quickly, as if it never happened, she rolled her eyes, recognising the voice - Len, of course.

"Being late would only make everything worse," she explained. "I don't know about you, but I'd like to get this over and done with without any additional issues."

The boy smiled at her, eyes half-lidded. "What makes you think it's going to be a big deal?"

She blinked at him, as if he just said something very, very stupid. But before she could ask what he meant, the principal appeared, hands clasped in front of him.

"Alright, into my office," he ordered with little expression.

Len seemed fairly relaxed for how strict and firm the principal appeared - but why was she surprised? He probably visited his office daily.

* * *

 **CAT & CROW**

"At least a kiss first, before you throw me to the sharks?" Len laughed at the thought. "How about no?" Then he booted the female out into the distance. / AU / angel!rinxdemon!len

 _I'll use my feminine charms and take you down, bitch_

.

.

.

They warned him about them: the, uh, you know, fairy-things.

Well, _whatever_ they are. Angels… or something? The Great Protectors of Earth? Holy Crusaders? The Sin Brigade? Something like that.

Anyway, they introduced themselves as one of the latter titles after bursting into his Saturday night blood bath without an invitation - a trio of fairy-things with fancy-schmancy, deathly weapons. From what he could recall, two were dressed in blindingly white plugsuits, and the other…

Uh.

"Oh, Len, you met her, didn't you?" Kaito said, almost sympathetically. He pat the boy on the back in an effort to comfort him. "She usually doesn't show up to fights because she's a fucknugget - so, you're in luck to see who we call the 'Angel of Thirst'. She's so thirsty, God help _us_ , even."

Gakupo chuckled darkly. "They're the worst group to be sent to Earth for moderation yet. Meiko and Luka, not so bad together, but when the blondie comes into it? It's like watching a circus. The girl can bend. She can also wear no clothes. I've seen her show up in a towel, once. Who knows how she kept it in place while crushing people's heads with those thighs of hers."

Len swallowed, pushing his glasses up to his face. "She crushed people's heads with her _thighs?_ "

"The girl is full of surprises," Kaito responded. He shuffled a deck cards with ease and dealt them out to the two young men sitting across from him. "First, she looks 12. But apparently her age is supposed to be equivalent to that of a 19 year old. Second, she's the light of God's life, for some reason. She isn't one of the once-a-human angels like the others - she was home-grown in Heaven and trained for _years_. Third, she attends a high school undercover and elopes with every single teenage boy she can get her hands on. Even the demons."

"Even the demons," Gakupo repeated in agreement. For some reason, Len knew she'd probably tried pursuing them at one stage.

Kaito sighed over his deck of cards. "Oh, but Len, don't be mistaken. She'd bite your head off with her teeth if she had to. Steer clear of her."

Len gulped at the thought of his… his _head_ … being in between… _being crushed_ … never mind. Never mind. "Right. I'll take note of that. Thanks."

The purple-haired man smiled, albeit creepily. "That's a good boy."

.

"Please no!" the girl sobbed. "No, no, no! I'm sorry! Please, let me go!"

She attempted to crawl away, to escape, but Len casually stepped over her frail body, trapping her underneath him. She froze, whimpering under his gaze, her soft brown eyes staring up at him with desperation.

He bent down, silencing her with a gloved finger. "There's no need to apologise," he told her smoothly, dragging his hand down her wet cheeks. "In fact, _I'll_ be the one to apologise. I've got to do this, alright? I've been putting it off for _ages_ , but man, I'm just so hungry and I can't… I can't stand it anymore." He licked his lips. "It's going to hurt. Maybe a lot. But then it'll be over. All this pain and suffering - it will be over. You'll be free from this horrible, horrible place. Promise me you won't hold a grudge?"

Tears fell from those sad, puppy-like eyes. What a pity it was that Len disliked dogs. It was also a pity that this girl, who was practically _begging_ for her death before, suddenly had a change of heart.

Always. It was always like that. The weak-minded humans, about to give it all up - and all of a sudden, when he appeared to take their lives, they'd beg him _not to_. They'd say they didn't really _mean it_. They'd say they _regret_ such a thought.

Well, unfortunately for them, Len also despised the word _regret_.

There was no such thing as a regret. No - never, not in his world. Not even in those final seconds of that short, boring life he lived -

Len gave her his best business-like smile, before opening his mouth wide, _wide as possible_ , to enjoy a delightful meal - her life.

The girl's soul was a dull bittersweet, much like her memories - oh, there was a break-up? Well, how sad. No friends? Oh, what a horrible life. Failing grades? Talk about that being the icing on the cake.

He snorted to himself, pulling away from the girl's mouth. Her eyes were still gazing up at him lifelessly, helplessly - there was nothing left in them, nothing but an empty vessel.

"Disgusting," he scoffed, using the top of his shoe to nudge her body off the edge of the building. Len then turned and sauntered away, the satisfying _splat_ and horrified screams from below sounding like heaven to his ears.

He chuckled at the thought. Yes, heaven - heaven for _sure_.

.

 _Heaven_ , he mused as he strode into home - an empty, rundown warehouse in the slums of the city. _Was it heaven, or hell?_

Something warm and furry rubbed up against his leg upon entering, and he looked down, his hard expression melting into that of adoration. "Hey, Mr Purr," he greeted, kneeling down to scratch the feline's chin. He mewled in response, pushing into the palm of Len's hand.

A few other cats ran over to join him, mewling and begging for attention at the teenager's feet. He grinned and sat onto the concrete floor, allowing the animals to crawl all over him.

"Oh, you guys are too much," Len said with a laugh.

Though he couldn't stop the niggling feeling in the back of his head - he knew he wasn't alone when he stepped inside.

As expected, something - or _someone_ \- dropped from the roof in his peripheral vision, hitting the concrete flawlessly, soundlessly.

He'd already guessed who it was. The cats that had come to say hello suddenly dispersed with hisses and growls, hiding in the shadows of the warehouse, as if the Devil himself appeared in the room.

But no.

As much as Len would like to convince the white wings of justice were really just an illusion, he could not deny his company was the child born from God's tears (of disappointment).

"You're so sexy when you're sucking souls out of people, demon boy," the figure said, moving towards him to reveal her heart-shaped face. She'd tried speaking deeper, to make herself sound mysterious and alluring, but unfortunately, it sounded more like she had a sore throat.

Len rolled his eyes.

Tonight, her choice of outerwear was… definitely interesting, but an improvement to the towel story he heard from Gakupo a while ago. She was still in her school uniform; her skirt rolled higher than the Eiffel Tower, and shirt unbuttoned far enough so that it revealed the pale pink ruffles of her (push-up) bra.

Ah, classy as always.

Her hair was messy, bow lopsided, lip gloss smudged. The only thing that remained picture-perfect was her milky-white skin. It was pure, unlike her personality. He wondered what poor soul (or souls) had been victim to her charms tonight.

Rin pouted. If he blocked out the rest of her body and left just her face visible, she'd look like a child who'd gotten in trouble for going through her mother's makeup. "Aw, what's that expression for? Don't you want some of…" She brushed her fingers over her upper thighs, her skirt moving dangerously higher in doing so, "- this?"

Len folded his arms over his chest, raising an eyebrow. "Well, contrary to popular belief," he began flatly, " _no_."

"I'm not wearing anything under here, Len," she told him lowly, gesturing to her crotch.

What, did she leave her underwear behind like an autograph? Was that a signature thing angels did nowadays? Hmm.

He turned his back to her disinterestedly. "Good for you."

As expected, she went in for the kill once he was facing away. The girl sprung onto his back, wrapping her legs around his waist and pulling him into some sort of death grip. She pressed herself up against him, all the while almost crushing his body doing so, before whispering into his ear, "Can you feel me?"

 _...Wow._

Len was rendered speechless for a moment, before he bent forward, plunging into the ground using Rin's head as his cushion. He felt a weakness in her grip, taking advantage of it to free himself, before twisting himself around so that he knelt onto Rin's back, seizing her wrists with one hand and using the other to keep her face squashed into the concrete.

Of course, it wouldn't stop her - heck, the move didn't even leave so much as a _scratch_ on her - from taunting him. "Oh!" she moaned into the ground, "It feels _so good_ when you hold me down underneath you… Are you going to play with me, Len?"

He envisioned throwing Rin into a volcano, and her getting off on that. Well, yeah, it was proven a long time ago the girl was a masochist - the thought made him want to be sick.

"God, why won't you ever shut up?" he groused, "Like, at least if you're not going to plug your raging desires for joysticks, you could _at least_ put a sock in your mouth. Or several thousand, so there's no way you could speak ever again."

Rin whined. "You're so mean, _teasing me_ like this. The mouth is the best part of foreplay, you evil neet…" She sighed in pleasure, almost as if she was - uh, no, never mind. "You would know this if you ever made the effort to get a girlfriend before killing yourself."

"I live happiest in ignorance," Len advised thinly. "I die happiest in ignorance. I don't take advice from someone who wasn't even _born_."

She blew a raspberry. "You don't need to be born to have fun."

"Well, I wish someone told me that before I jumped the bandwagon," the boy uttered bitterly.

"You were the one who made your life suck," Rin stated.

That. Is. _It._

Len stood, pulling Rin up with him.

"Okay, Miss _Child of All Things Good and Holy_ ," he started while dragging her over to the entrance of the warehouse. "Considering you _totally_ grew up on Earth and lived for an odd 17 or so years, and you _know_ for a fact what it's like to be a human with feelings, ambitions, stresses, expectations and restrictions, I'm sure that me drop-kicking you into the ocean would be the most exhilarating thing in comparison to once being a fully-functional member of society."

He hauled her across the platform outside and over to the edge of the deck, holding the petite female over the dark waters.

"Come on, Len," she said, her tone changing - there was an edge to it. "I'm only playing around with you. How about we go back inside and - and enjoy each other's company, for once?"

"I'm sorry, _Rin_ ," he responded, mocking her voice. "But I'd rather set my penis on fire. It's just the way the world works, unfortunately."

She moved her head, angling her chin so it was positioned closest to Len's mouth. "At least a kiss first, before you throw me to the sharks?"

Len laughed at the thought. "How about no?"

Then he booted the female out into the distance.

He sighed in satisfaction, watching her annoying body disappear into the waves like it was a beautiful sunset.

Ah, but it won't keep her away for long.

.

It'd been a month or so since his last feast. Len _tried_ to be nice and spare as many lives as possible, but eventually even _he_ couldn't control the burn of hunger - he had to eat _somehow_.

He decided, he could be worse - Kaito and Gakupo just do it for fun, rather than just 'surviving' (he still didn't know what would happen to demons, already dead people, if they didn't eat souls; did they disappear or something? All Len knew from experience was that it made him a lot more tired and lethargic, like he was sick). Even though putting off feasting made him weaker in some ways, he just - there was no _need_ to do it, as far as he knew. It wasn't like he _enjoyed_ sucking the souls out of living things like a vacuum. He just had to, at the end of the day.

But somehow, out of all the infrequent times he went to dinner, it was a 9/10 chance those pissfart Holy Daughters of the South (or whatever) would show up to ruin the party.

 _Why?_ Why couldn't they bother Kaito or Gakupo? They were more into killing than he was.

Anyway.

To his pleasure, Rin had been keeping her distance since the last meeting. He wondered if she was angry at him about it.

 _No hard feelings, right?_ he mused to himself with a smirk.

"What are you smiling about, dirt?" Meiko grumbled. The two angels stood their ground across from Len - in between them hanged the body of a businessman. He was long gone, now - being digested and proving to be a very nutritious meal for the boy.

Ah, but, Len didn't like hanging victims. It just wasn't as _thrilling_ as throwing them off buildings or whatever.

The blonde readjusted the gloves on his hands, before picking lint off his coat. "I was just wondering," he began slowly, buying time to allow himself to recharge before the battle between good and evil began. "Aren't you guys supposed to be holy, or something? I just… your third companion is quite… uh…"

Both Meiko and Luka sighed. "If this is about Rin," Luka said, "we don't talk about her. She's dead to us."

Len chuckled, adjusting his glasses. He fixed his position like he was standing his ground, glancing up to meet the women's eyes. "Alright. Well, I guess I should be thankful it's two against one, rather than three, hmm?" He smiled.

An arrow of light shot out from Luka's palm and Len dodged it, sliding across the floor to the far side of the room.

"Oh, no you _don't_ ," Meiko snapped, moving towards him. She brandished one of the 'godly' water pistols they had as a weapon.

He twisted around, bending awkwardly to avoid a stream of water. It wasn't _normal_ water, of course. It was holy water. And, well, any smart demon would know it ate away flesh and _hurt like a bitch_.

Len took the few spare seconds Meiko wasted pumping up the gun to up and ran for the door. Luka, however, stepped in front of him, a victorious grin on her face.

"Not so fast, devil boy."

The pink-haired woman held out her hand palm-down, allowing a long, glowing chain to materialise from it. She grabbed hold of it with the other hand, and using it like a whip, lashed it out at Len, seizing his ankle.

He was pulled off his feet, backside hitting the ground with a resonating _thud_ , and she tugged the chain back towards her. Soon, Luka was staring right down at him with her piercing blue gaze.

"It's child's play handling you," she told him in a voice like silk. "You're still inexperienced. And stupid."

Len grinned, deciding not to pick out the flaw in her statement. "Thanks."

She forgot the first time they'd run in with each other. (And, clearly, he managed to get away in one piece.)

The brunette stepped over, rolling her eyes. "You won't be thanking us when we exorcise you, kid."

"Poor Rin would be _heartbroken_ if you did that," he answered somberly.

"I'm sorry to say, Len, but I don't think dead, evil boys with glasses and an obsession for cats are her type," Luka pointed out.

Len snorted. "You'd be surprised."

The pink-haired woman hauled him up off the ground with the chain, before throwing the boy's body over her shoulder. "Well, then, let's take him to a monk. I want to get home and sleep already. I have an English exam tomorrow and if I fail, I will cry for three weeks."

Meiko scanned her fingernails disinterestedly. "Oh, right. Exams. They start tomorrow, don't they? Maybe Rinnie's studying for those."

"Yeah, right," Luka scoffed as they ascended a flight of stairs and stepped out onto the dark street. "Studying for what? Biology? She could write an essay no problem on the reproductive system, but if you gave her a maths exam, she'd throw herself from the window of her classroom."

"I bet you ￥1000 she won't turn up to school tomorrow. Or for the next week or so."

Luka gave Meiko a sly look. "I'm not betting you anything, considering we already know it'll happen."

Meiko sighed. "You're no fun, you old hag."

"Who here was born in the 20th century?" Luka questioned, before putting her hand up. Meiko didn't budge. "Yeah, that's right, you 18th century dirtbag."

"Well, I'm older, therefore I'm _wiser_."

Luka laughed. "Right. And the sky is green."

.

Len rubbed his ankle, hunched on the curb a few blocks away from home.

 _God, was that close_ , he reflected with a frown. He'd almost lost his cool towards the end, as they'd lugged him towards a temple. He really thought he was done for, then.

But...

Rin had dropped down from out of nowhere in nothing but a bra and short-shorts just before they'd entered the temple.

"Hey guys, what'd I miss?"

She gave her groupmates a playful grin, eyes glazing over Len momentarily, who was still hanging off Luka's shoulder and looking rather woeful.

"Oh my God," he groaned under his breath.

Luka's eyes flashed. "You're late," she lectured. "We started this _half-an-hour_ ago, Rin. _Half-an-hour_. Why."

That wasn't what the brunette was worried about, though. "For goodness sake, Rin, have some decency and put on some clothes. You're scaring the naughty boy." She turned to pat Len on the head and he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Well, it didn't seem like you guys needed me," Rin pointed out, gesturing to the boy. "I mean, you did a pretty good job at capturing him yourself."

Meiko and Luka exchanged glances.

Len took the moment to analyse his situation. Rin was distracting Luka by pissing her off, therefore Luka was less focused on him, thus giving him the chance to escape from her grasp. Meiko was too busy siding with the pink-haired woman to pay attention to him, anyway.

And Rin - well, whatever, he'd deal with it later.

The boy swung himself forward, the weight of his body allowing him to flip face-first off Luka's shoulder. He stood from the ground to make a break for it - but forgot he still had that darned _holy chain_ or whatever wrapped around his ankle. He face-planted the ground a few metres away, pulling Luka down with him.

Luka cursed as Len clambered back onto his feet, taking the opportunity to drag the woman along with him as he ran in the opposite direction to the temple.

He had to figure out how to get the stupid chain off him. Somehow.

He glanced back over his shoulder, seeing Meiko lunge after him.

"Cut the chain!" Meiko yelled at Rin over her shoulder.

Len smirked. _Yes, cut the chain, Rin_.

He shook his head at the dirty thought that just entered his mind. Rin's sexual innuendos are starting to take over his mind. Soon, he'll be fucking donuts or something.

"Don't cut the chain!" Luka screamed back abruptly, noticing Len's pleased expression.

\- But it was too late. Rin was half-way through hauling a 'holy' axe over her head; the object too heavy to halt, before it cut straight through the metal and the tension on Len's end released.

Rin blinked cluelessly as Len then took off down the street, Meiko hot on his heels.

"Oh. Shit."

Len could hear Luka's pissed yells as he high-tailed it down a sidestreet, back into the main part of the city. _Poor Rin_ , he thought with little empathy. It was kind of funny she just turned up last minute and pretty much ruined everything.

"I'm gonna make your evil sorry butt regret ever escaping!" Meiko yelled after him. She was gaining fast.

Evil _sorry_ butt? Well.

Actually, Meiko…

There was nothing 'sorry' about his evil butt.

He rounded another corner a bit too fast, skidding over some wet concrete and crashing into a wall. "Ah, shit," he hissed to himself, scrambling onto his feet.

Someone jumped out of the shadows, and for a split second he thought it was going to be Meiko (somehow).

Wrong.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Len," Kaito said evenly, folding his arms over his chest. "You can call me when you're in trouble."

"Um -"

Before he could even start his sentence, Meiko appeared, and Kaito lurched forward, grabbing the brunette by the arm and pulling her into a tight embrace.

"W-what the heck -"

Kaito shushed her. "Now, now, should pretty angels like you be swearing?"

Meiko wriggled in his grasp, but no avail against the bluenette's sheer strength. "I'm gonna _burn_ you," she spat. "So hard."

He chuckled, before glancing up at Len and nodding to him. "You go. I'll deal with your girlfriends."

Len raised an eyebrow, knowing full well Kaito will make Len 'owe him' for his 'good deed' later. Well… he'll worry about that when he's not running for his life. "Thanks." He took off down the alleyway, hoping Kaito won't do anything _too_ weird or horrible to the trio.

He didn't want to admit it, but he kind of had a soft spot for them. God forbid anyone find that out, though.

.

It wasn't a surprise she showed up a few days later.

"Demon boy," she called from above, perched on one of the trusses of the warehouse's roof. Today, she was dressed slightly better than their last encounter; a skimpy dress that itched to expose parts of her Len'd rather not see.

He stared at her for a while, not in the mood to ask her why she was there, before turning his attention back to feeding his cats.

"Hey, Len," she nagged. "Len. _Len._ Len, Len, Len -"

Len glanced back up at her, eyes narrowed. " _What?_ "

"Do you know what's on my underwear today?"

He stood straight, wiping his hands down on his trousers. "I don't, and quite frankly, Rin, I don't _want_ to."

The female smiled innocently, before lifting her dress up for the whole world to see. Len almost died - for a second time, at that. He should've known better. "Cat-printed underwear," she told him, as if the boy couldn't see with his own eyes. "Do you like?"

Len was silent. He then cleared his throat and took off his glasses to rub his eyes. "How holy of you."

Rin dropped from the ceiling, plucking the glasses from his grasp. She pushed them onto her face, squinting through the lenses. "How do you _see_ with these?" she questioned, disgusted.

"Why is water wet?" he retorted, a sarcastic edge in his voice, while swiftly retrieving the frames from her face despite her cries of reluctance.

The female pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Now," she began, "if you were an angel, you wouldn't have to wear those."

Len rolled his eyes. "In return for plucking harps and singing hymns? Ah yes, what fun."

Rin held up her finger. "We don't just pluck _harps_ , Len - we pluck any instrument. We even have _the best_ screamo bands. And we don't just sing hymns - I mean, who the heck does that in this day and age? They're lame. We sing hit songs from the 80s. The worst thing you could do is stereotype angels like they do on TV."

"Oh, of course. I forgot you were the biggest anti-stereotype in history," he uttered, walking away to place the catnip on the shelf and grab a poop scooper.

"L _en_."

He didn't look back at her as he bent over to dig through his nifty make-shift litter trays. "R _in_ ," he responded in the same fashion.

Suddenly, Len felt hands move over his shoulders, and he tensed, bracing for the moment she'd snap off his head like a toothpick. It didn't happen.

"You hold a lot of hatred," she murmured, hot breath tickling the back of his neck. He resisted the urge to shudder. "A lot of hatred, and sadness, and _regret…_ "

Something inside of him snapped, and before he could think, the boy found himself pulling away from her touch as if she were on fire. He grimaced. "Don't fucking touch me," he spat. His sharp tone then softened slightly. "I just - don't want you to touch me."

Rin's lips turned down, and she opened her mouth to say something, but Len interrupted, "You're so freaking weird - I just - I don't get you. I don't get you. When are you going to exorcise me, or whatever? Don't you know you have the capability to do it right now? You could just crush me, right here, right now."

He mused his hands through his hair and stepped away from her, closing his eyes.

She was still there, watching him - he knew. Waiting. Waiting for _whatever_ it was.

As if the day couldn't turn any more into a disaster, the doors of the warehouse swung open, and in Meiko and Luka marched with livid expressions. Len swerved around like a deer under headlights. So did Rin.

Actually - did she just - did she just _pale?_

Maybe the girl had some remorse, after all.

"I _knew_ it," Meiko said, her shrill voice slicing through the heavy silence like a knife. "You _were_ lying to us, you -!"

Luka held up a hand, silencing her partner. "What are you _doing_ here, Rin?"

The blonde faltered. "Uh, I - I -" She couldn't get her words out.

When Rin showed no signs of finishing what she started, her companion started up again. "What are you _thinking_?" the pink-haired woman then exclaimed. "You know the rules, Rin! You've known the rules since the beginning - yet you're out, traipsing around with this -" She gestured to Len, "- a _demon_. The things we're supposed to be _hunting_. _Destroying_. They're blood-thirsty _beasts_ , Rin. They don't have _souls_ , that's why they eat them. They aren't humans, or close to being them. Whatever that ghost filled your head with was _lies_. They can't be fixed. They're beyond the capability of being fixed."

 _A ghost?_ Len thought, with slight amusement. _She's been around more than I thought._

He glanced at the girl's face to her reaction - she hung her head, no visible expression.

"It's just the way it works, Rin," Meiko added, voice gentler than before. "You know all of this. When a human commits suicide, the devil has possession of their soul. They become a puppet, and feed off the souls of the miserable or misfortunate before the human can re-think their thoughts or decisions… It's irreversible. All we can do is exorcise them. Then their soul is freed, and consequently, they disappear forever."

 _Well, that sounds comforting,_ the boy mulled. Nothing new to him, though.

He was surprised to hear a sniffle come from the female. Rin wiped her face with the back of her hand, swallowing thickly.

"I get it, okay? I get it. But that doesn't mean it's _fair_. That doesn't mean it has to happen," she mumbled eventually. "It's just so sad. It's so sad, because they hurt so much, it's the only way they can escape the pain - I know they don't want to become soulless, to have to do this - it's not fair on them, because they didn't know. There was no way for them to know."

Meiko and Luka looked to each other. The brunette licked her lips. "But they _deserve_ it, they deserve it for -"

"No!" Rin screamed, cutting her short. Everyone was stunned silent for a moment or two. The petite blonde clenched her hands into fists. " _No one_ deserves it! You just don't understand. Neither of you could _ever_ understand!"

Before Luka or Meiko could respond, she lept up onto the window sill behind her and dove through the glass, disappearing outside. Len blinked, frowning as the clear shards scattered across his floor.

Great. Thanks, Rin.

The warehouse fell quiet for a moment or two as what just happened sunk in. Len looked back over at Rin's supposed partners, wondering if they were going to brandish their pitchforks and set fire to him, but saw they shared concerned expressions on their faces.

Meiko and Luka had a quick word, before the brunette turned to him. "I'm going to come back later for you, kid," she warned.

He ignored the angel's statement, instead enquiring, "What will happen to my cats once I'm gone?"

"I'm sure Rin would look after them for you," the pink-haired woman said dryly. "That's if she's not deported back to Heaven."

Len couldn't help but frown at the unpromising response. "...Right."

The pair left the warehouse without another word, and the boy supposed they were going to capture Rin.

He could probably get Kaito to look after them, not trusting the tone of Luka's answer - but he knew the blunette wouldn't let him off without a bit of teasing and poking at the boy's dignity at first. He just had a significant appreciation for the animals - that was all. Even when he was alive, though just about as dead inside as he was now, he felt sympathetic towards seeing the poor things hungry and homeless on the streets.

He cast a look to the glass window, then to the felines that were hiding back in the shadows. Beckoning them over, he crouched down and let them crawl all over him.

Len gazed up at the ceiling, as Rin's words echoed - _it isn't fair._

"Nothing is fair here, Rin," he whispered.

.

He tried to avoid the warehouse from then on - not that he wanted to admit his fear of being caught by Meiko or Luka.

Other than that, there was no news - or sign - of Rin. Apparently her comrades couldn't find her, and she wasn't making any special appearances for Len, either. Well, whatever. It had just been a week or so since the - uh, _conflict_ \- happened. She must be pretty great at hiding to be untraceable, even by the Oh-So Great and Holy.

Or she'd been caught by some other angels and dropkicked back to her special place in Heaven.

Either way, Len couldn't tell whether he liked the silence of her absence. Sure, it was giving his eyes a break from her lack of shame, but he couldn't help but feel some sort of strange… concern for the girl. She was… _okay_ in moderation. It wasn't like her being there made the world any better - or worse.

"Honestly, wouldn't be surprised if some bigwigs from Holy Land swooped down and snatched the girl," Kaito commented, as he set down a card onto the table. He, Gakupo and Len were playing a game of Blackjack to aid the problem of being dead with nothing to do. "She was raunchy, she was getting down and dirty with one of the devil's children, _and_ she turned against her groupmates. God would be turning in his grave - if he had one."

Len raised an eyebrow. "I didn't do _any_ dirty with her, mind you," he pointed out. "She was the one who kept coming onto me."

"Yeah, yeah." Kaito waved his hand around dismissively. "I don't trust you sex-hungry teenagers."

Except, there was no such thing as a 'sex-drive' in demons, really; Len couldn't really give a hoot about being laid. _Ever_. He was dead. What was the point? He didn't even get turned on by Rin's half-naked dignity - which, he knew for a fact that if he were alive in such scenario, he'd probably jizz himself a little.

"Anyway," the blonde changed the subject, "according to the conversation, Rin'd been in contact with a ghost that'd been convincing her that… well, demons could be rescued, or whatever. I don't know. I only got the gist of it."

Gakupo snorted. "As if a ghost would know anything."

"Right," Len agreed.

"Ghosts like to think they're important," Kaito began. "But at the end of the day they're an annoying waste of space that are too pussy to pass-over. Even the angels know they're pieces of shit. I'm surprised the precious, well-educated Rin actually _believed_ the kind of nonsense those things spurt."

The purple-haired man paused to study the boy sitting across from him for a moment. "You're not thinking of actually… finding that ghost, are you?"

Len snorted. "I - psh, _no_. Of course not. I've got better things to do, like be dead and evil."

Kaito groaned. "If only you were a good liar,"

* * *

 **canaria**

{ let me show you the hell of my heart }

.

A while ago, there was a man who'd bought the largest, most expensive block of land in the town - the one on a hill with a grand view that looked down on all who were lowly.

He was the son of two successful doctors who spent most of their time making money, rather than working on familial relationships. From the day he was born, he already had enough money to buy him anything he wanted.

Anything.

Except love.

The lonesome boy soon grew to a fine young businessman, sly and charming, who had everything but nothing at all. He was a spectacle of desire, and those who desired him would give anything to _be_ him. His friends were only there for his status and wealth, his romantic relationships consisted of one-night-stands and a wad of cash being slipped down a brassiere in secret, and his family was hardly what others defined 'family'.

He spent most of his life seeking an answer, perfection, a miracle that would fill the empty, questioning void in his heart - but to no avail, his search came to no conclusion.

Even after moving cities, buying the largest block of land, hiring the most experienced and renowned architects, building a grand mansion fit for royalty, and purchasing the finest furniture from far away lands, the hungry hole in his chest was not satisfied. It seemed it would _never_ be satisfied.

It seemed that way, until one fateful meeting.

.

Len tried not to frequent the darkest, dingiest parts of town in fear of tarnishing his pristine reputation - alas, his boredom would more often than not get the better of him.

He heard from word of mouth that a bar in the far east of the city had the best performers, despite its rundown and shabby appearance; one performer in particular, a young girl with the 'voice of angels'.

This rumour piqued his interest.

Some time later, he wandered through the red door in an alleyway on the 8th street, into the smoky, loud atmosphere of _Purgatoire_ , wearing his darkest coat and most stoic expression.

Most of the occupants of the bar appeared to be rough around the edges, casting curious glares in his direction - others recognising his face to be _That man, the one who has the money_ , as he made his way to an uncrowded section of the bar.

There he ordered a whiskey, and surveyed his surroundings, wondering why this bar in particular was such a spectacle.

The bartender he shared brief word with earlier appeared once again with his drink, scanned his face for a few moments. He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead with a towel. "New here, aren't ya?"

Len licked his lips and reached out to his glass. "Suppose," came his short reply.

His blue-haired companion snorted. "Right. I'm guessing you came here for the lady?"

Setting down his whiskey, he raised an eyebrow in question, and echoed, "The lady?" What, a prostitute?

"Yes," the bartender confirmed, wearing an amused expression, possibly because his customer had no clue of who 'The lady' was. "She's our best performer, a favourite of those who frequent the bar. Recently, new customers have been visiting just to watch her acts."

"Oh, I see," Len said. So the rumour _was_ true. "When does she perform?"

The blue-haired man gave him a crooked grin. "Tonight, 8:30. You're lucky you came before the rush - this place gets filled by 8 o'clock." Just as he finished his sentence, a group of loud, boisterous workers stumbled into the bar, having finished their shifts for the day.

The bartender saw this, and excused himself to serve the new customers. Len looked down at his whiskey, thoughtful. Whoever this girl was, she certainly had a following.

Slowly, more people trickled into the cramped room, until soon everyone stood shoulder-to-shoulder. When it was time, the lights dimmed - all except for a spotlight focused on the stage. A presenter crawled up onto the rickety ledge, clearing his throat, and the room fell into respectful silence.

The grimy man swallowed into the microphone, shakily introduced Wednesday night's performer as 'Rin'.

" _Our fragile canary, with a voice from the heavens_ -"

He disappeared from the stage, only to be replaced by a frail female, no taller than Len's chin.

Somewhere along the way, his breath had gotten caught in his throat, unable to escape.

She was a ghostly white, dark eyelashes thick with mascara, and a hint of rouge adding colour to her face. Her lips were painted red, pouted and small like a rosebud. Her hair was a dirty blonde, fringe a little overgrown, but the messy look was almost… sexy, dare he say it. She wore a gown, pale blue, but the white trimming was yellowed and aged, and there were subtle stains on her skirt. Small hands fluttered to the microphone stand as she perched her bosom on a stool, and hesitantly, she gave the audience a secret smile.

Len had to remind himself, for the first time in his life, to _breathe_.

The music started, a jazz piece, and he began to sway along to the highs and lows of her soft, airy voice. Indeed, a sound that came from an angel - no, no - _she_ was the angel.

A canary, wings trimmed, trapped in a rusty, dirty cage unsuited to her beauty and grace. She was bound to the stage, yet Len could imagine her tiny body resting comfortably in one of his pillowed chairs, with a flowing gown, glowing skin and his hand placed over her right shoulder - a portrait hanging neatly over the fireplace, a memoir…

He shook his head, unsure what had triggered the strange daydream. By the time he'd come to his senses, her performance was nearly over, and she was to disappear somewhere backstage like a specter, as if she was never really there.

Len lingered for a while, trying to find reason as to what came over him just before. He'd never had an experience such as that - never felt his heart beat in his chest so fast, like he was running away from something terrifying. Yet he couldn't rid of the image of her beautiful smile in his mind.

"'scuse me." He waved a bartender over. "That girl - Rin - does she perform normally every Wednesday night?"

The bartender gave him a smirk. "She sure does. Smitten with her, are ya?"

Len blinked. "N- no, I was just curious, thank you," he responded, embarrassed he'd make such an assumption.

He hastily gathered his things to leave, but before he was out of earshot, the bartender added, "You got a lot of competition, mate, good luck."

He didn't want to know what he meant by that.

* * *

In real life, Rin was calm and conservative. No one would even imagine her the artist of a famous romance webcomic. Insert Len, the strange new kid from Okinawa.

 **i cannot draw a donger for the life of me**

.

(famous words by Kagamine Rin)

Picture this: someone reciprocating another person's feelings.

Right.

It was such a weird and foreign concept to Rin, the topic of mutual love. Of course, she was well aware of all the lovey-dovey couples out there - no duh - but to _her_ , such a thing seemed impossible.

After all, she _had_ been crushing hardcore on an anonymous person from the Internet for at least a year now - it still hurt to know that he'd never return the favour. He was just as oblivious towards love as she was, despite being the author to one of pixiv's most well-known shoujo romance webcomics.

One that _she_ illustrated.

Yes, it was true - two (seemingly anonymous) loser teenagers were behind a sexy online manga that hit the front pages of pixiv weekly.

It was surprising what information the Internet could provide when one had no experience.

(Hence, Rin's very single and very untouched status.)

However, she didn't know much about her mysterious partner, 'Nanaba27'; apart from the fact that he was also in high school, spoke Japanese and was of the male gender. Unfortunately, she couldn't just google him and read up about his life story on Wikipedia, so for all she knew, she could really be talking to a creepy old man.

Assuming he was who he claimed he was, she had an inkling he was gay, sort of, just because he seemed to fawn over the idea of racy, girly romances. Slap her for being so stereotypical, but it really was something uncommon to see in straight men - or at least the straight men she'd associated with - because they're all about the manry-image and pride and how big their balls are. You know, patriarchy.

But maybe she was wrong. Maybe there was hope for her after all.

Then again, he knew nothing about her, either - apart from the same things she knew about him. It was simple like that. They made a mutual promise that everything remained strictly confidential. Their conversations would never lead to anything personal. They could be living in the same house and not even know.

(She always knew there was someone living in the apparently-haunted guest room.)

So, yeah.

It was bad that she, the artist of this oh-so-famous webcomic, was questioning the legitimacy of romance while scrolling through the new script Nanaba27 had sent through the night prior. This chapter had dived right into the depths of smut and true love.

Rin raised her eyebrows upon realising the direction the chapter was taking. She was trying to imagine how strange her search history would look once completing it.

Ah, Naba - she calls him Naba for short - always challenged her in that way. He never failed to surprise her with his updates. Did he just write all of this to jerk off to later? Yikes.

Nevertheless, though, Rin still drew it. Maybe it was because she wanted to kiss his ass, or maybe it was because she really enjoyed drawing smut and sexy scenes. Who knew?

She paused, noticing a note at the end of the document.

 **Nanaba27 (23:56):** _I might not be able to forward the next script for another week as I'm moving and Internet is a pain. Sorry - I hope this isn't an issue._

Moving, huh? Did he mention that before? No, he never did.

Well, alright.

Rin sighed to herself.

 **カリン茶** **(17:47):** _Okay. I will probably take a while on this anyway. Let me know when your internet is back in case I have any questions about this chapter._

She rolled her neck and opened up an incognito window.

 _ **Search**_ _: nipple erections_

Thank God for incognito.

.

Picture this: cute transfer students.

By her third, and final, year of high school, Rin was convinced that it was impossible for a transfer student to be both attractive, and not be immediately repulsed by her appearance.

She wasn't ugly. Surely. She was maybe a little plain, and boring, and short, and practically invisible - but she knew she wasn't hideous. Yet a lot of the attractive transfer students seemed to be mildly disgusted over ever having to interact with her. Unfortunately, interaction happened a lot, since she had been the class president for the past three years.

(It was only because she was the one person who volunteered for the position. Everyone else could care less. So she got the role, and it stuck for her entire high school career.)

But perhaps this one was going to prove her wrong.

Unfortunately.

He wasn't very tall, but not really short, either. At first glance you wouldn't think much of him. He had a stubby nose, kind of upturned, with a splash of freckles over the bridge. His face was borderline child-like, as if he was just emerging from his first puberty growthspurt - but it still managed to look _okay_. The little bit of roundness to his cheeks made him kind of cute, like a puppy. There were cheekbones emerging, alongside a nice, slick jawline. His eyelashes were long and dark, contrasting with bright eyes. His lips were full - awfully kissable in her opinion - and a pretty shade of pink.

Then there was this thing. On his head. It was a little like a boner - a hair boner. That was when the illusion stopped.

A ponytail. He had crammed his messy, crimped mop into some poor excuse of a man-bun. Why. _Why._ Miku will _scream_ at this fashion abomination when she sees this. The boy might as well write himself a death sentence brandishing such _horror_ in front of her.

It was just - a beautiful face Rin would love to see down under, and then HAIR. A HAIR TRAVESTY.

She couldn't stop staring at it. Even when he was asked to introduce himself to the class. It was just there - making her palms sweat profusely.

Someone tapped her shoulder, and she glanced back at the person sitting behind her. Gumi. A 'friend' of Miku's (and by 'friend', well, you fill in the blanks).

The green-haired girl gave her a sickened expression. "What's that on his head?"

Rin glanced back at the boy, whose name she missed, and answered, "I think it's a cob of corn."

"A tail?"

"Maybe it's to hide a tumor."

Gumi squinted at him. "Fuck me."

"Nice offer, but no thank you. Miku would kill me."

The girl ignored Rin's remark, hardly batting an eyelid. "God bless his soul. The she-demon won't let him live another day with that hairstyle once she sets eyes on him."

By she-demon, she meant Miku.

"Gumi, was there something you wanted to ask Len?" the teacher spoke up, interrupting their very important conversation. She narrowed her eyes at them, as if saying, _I know you know I know what you're doing, so don't do it._

So his name was Len. Okay. How… plain.

Gumi cleared her throat. "Yes, actually," she said, sitting up in her seat. "What's that on your head?"

The transfer student blinked. Once, then twice. "What's what?" he asked back eventually.

Before the green-haired girl could make a snarky comeback, the teacher quickly continued, "How about you go sit by Rin, our class president, in the third row there? Put up your hand so he can see you, Rin."

Obediently, Rin raised her hand.

Len's eyes met hers, and after a split moment of hesitation, he gave her a warm smile before approaching his seat beside hers. She blinked, a little stunned by the beauty. When did people smile at her? When did _cute boys_ smile at her?

Wow.

"If you have any questions, just ask her. I'm sure she'd be more than willing to help," the teacher finished. She paused, before changing the subject to the regular morning notices.

Rin stole a glance at Len and his… his abomination. He had a nice profile. By nice, she meant 'very pleasing to put onto paper'. Discreetly, she sketched his side into the margin of her school newspaper copy.

It's a pity about the hideous ponytail, though. Very pitiful.

.

Picture this: piriluk finishing fanfics

* * *

Life is good, life is fun, life fucks everyone,

 **the fields are filled with forgotten promises**

 _Don't let teenagers save the world._

"Rin."

"Yes, Gumi?"

"Miku has a _boyfriend_."

"Is that so."

The green-haired girl folded her arms over her chest, leaning against the shop counter. "It is so," she said. "And he's _hotter_ than _me_."

Rin narrowed her eyes at her friend as she handed her a coffee. "How do you know this - 'hot guy', or whatever - is her boyfriend?"

Gumi held up a finger. "They were _holding hands_."

"Friends and relatives hold hands, too. How can you be so sure?"

She stared at Rin as she disappeared behind the coffee machine once again. "What kind of - what kind of _friends_ or _relatives_ hold each other's _hands?_ I would rather stick my hand into a blender than touch my brother."

"...Right."

Gumi frowned. "I'm serious. This is a _big deal_ , Rin. Miku has a boyfriend! I shotgunned that spot first!"

"Unfortunately," Rin said over her shoulder, "Miku wasn't aware of that arrangement. I told you that you should've made a move before it was too late."

"You didn't tell me _anything_." Her friend huffed. "Plus, I never made a move because I couldn't figure out whether she was like, a lesbian or not. But here we are. And she's dating Hottie McHottie. And _I'm still single and horny_."

A sigh came from the kitchen, and a woman popped her head around the door, startling the two. "Gumi, I understand you're quite heartbroken and all, but can you please stop distracting my employee? She's _working_ , and I'm not paying for you two to have a heart-to-heart session for my customers to listen to."

"Are you serious, Meiko? The only customers here are me and old mate you sleep with in the corner." The teenager gestured to Kiyoteru, Meiko's fiance, who was deeply absorbed by the newspaper.

Kiyoteru cleared his throat, turning the page. "I have to agree with 'the child'. Her conversation is quite entertaining."

Meiko rolled her eyes and groaned in defeat, before disappearing from view.

Gumi smirked, holding her hand out for a high five from Kiyoteru, who ignored her. She dropped her hand and turned back to Rin.

"What should I _do?_ "

The blonde shrugged. "Move on from Miku? There are plenty of fish in the sea."

"What? Are you crazy? Miku is _perfect_. That's impossible."

"Well, unless you're going to devise some evil plan to sneak love potion into her food at school so she falls for you, I really don't see the point in wasting time by mourning your loss and hoping she'll come back to you by some miracle."

Gumi slumped down in a chair, sighing. "Why did I think coming to you for sympathy or advice was a good idea?"

Rin shrugged. "I told you. I'm the last person you should come to in regards of relationship advice." A moment later, she cried, " _Ouch!_ "

Her friend shot up. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing. Just pouring boiling hot water on my hands. The equivalent to the pain I feel discussing relationships." She smirked at Gumi as she turned away to stick her hand under cold water.

"I hope you get a scar from that."

"I hope it eats away my flesh and I die."

"I'm going home."

"Have fun with no Miku."

Gumi shot Rin a glare, before stepping outside, the door bell tinkling after her.

Kiyoteru raised his eyebrows at the blonde.

"She'll forgive me later, don't worry," she told him, before getting back to work.

* * *

 **Don't Follow Me into the Forest**

⭐️

She could set fire to them, she could set fire to _every last one of them_ \- but she knew setting fire to everything was just vain and pointless.

The lighter in one hand, cigarette in the other, and a dark hallway that smiled grimly. Her reflection hunched opposite, watching through tired eyes. She looked almost like a ghost; pale, naked and mentally unstable.

With little movement, Rin spread her fingers and let the lighter clutter to the wooden floorboards, turning her focus to the burning stick kissing her lips.

She'd quit years ago, and never really intended to enter the vicious cycle of addiction again, but now it didn't matter. Life was fragile, smiles stapled over salt foundations. Now she wanted to grasp it, tear it to a million tiny pieces.

Smoke obscured her vision of the mirror down the hall, her reflection disappearing into grey fog in the same way she wished she could go. Like a witch, stand up in front of a crowd and snap her fingers; with a poof, she'd be gone forever.

If she had the power to will away any proof of her existence, she would. It wasn't that she selfishly wanted to die, but rather selfishly wanted to just - not. Not. Just not, and with that, she would run away into the woods, so that she would just forget.

But of course, it seemed her power was to just - fuck. Fuck in any way, method or direction, whether it be up, down, them, herself, and everything around her.

She pressed her knuckles into her eyes. She was stuck in a hole, and too far deep to ask for help now.

* * *

 _'It's not so unusual. But to confront that reality at a certain point in your life is a hard thing. Very hard. You can't just dismiss it with generalities. How should I put it? It's like you're standing on a deck of a ship at sea at night and suddenly you're thrown overboard, alone, into the ocean.'_

 _Haruki Murakami_

They—his parents, his sister and him—lived in a large, white house in Kamakura; large by Japanese standards, that is. He and his sister's rooms were the same size, three metres wide and four metres long, parallel to each other, two steps apart. Since their house was three storeys, his parents slept in a larger room on the first floor – the room next to the bathroom, behind the staircase. The kitchen, toilet and living room were upstairs – a little crammed, but nonetheless comfortable.

The Kagamine family was well-off, although his parents had inherited a block of land in Kamakura that his grandparents bought before space became increasingly sparse and increasingly expensive. His father travelled over an hour every day to his workplace in central Tokyo, and his mother did private piano tutoring at a primary school nearby.

Both he and his sister were taught piano from a young age, but he resisted lessons later, and his sister became some kind of prodigy on the instrument until the end of her time. He didn't really feel that attached to the copious white and black keys, the repetitious scale exercises, and Dmitri Kabalevsky's _Waltz_ \- Rin was the one who could see beauty in music, or more so, breathe beauty into it.

Most of his memories were fond recollections of his twin sister poised over the piano, slender fingers gliding effortlessly like a perfected art form, eyelids shut as she was transported to another place through song. There was something destined, her image in front of those ivory keys. It belonged, like a scientific theory; Rin was just meant to create beautiful music.

What he was meant for, he could search a million years and never find an answer. Even growing up, whenever adults asked him, "What do you want to be?" his replies were variations of, "I don't know," and, "I'm not sure." There was never anything he was passionate about, really, unless sketching comic book characters in his history textbooks counted as something. But everyone knew he had as much as an unlikely chance of becoming an artist than a famous musician or author – he just didn't have that spark, that _special_ , the _oompf_ that made him stand out.

His mother suggested, "Why not be a doctor?" because naturally, that was something every parent wished their child to be. And, well, it wasn't unrealistic, either – he was smart, sort of. In fact, it wasn't uncommon for either of the Kagamine twins to be in the top of the overall grade reports; their parents had brought them up studious, so it just was. Being accepted into medical school wasn't an impossible feat for him, but what stopped him was that he didn't want to spend all that time in medical school to only discover how much he hated it. Becoming a doctor had never really _appealed_ to him, despite how high he scored in Maths or Science.

He shrugged his shoulders at the idea, and for the next three or so years of his life, it was a competition between family members to find a well-paying occupation that caught his attention.

Unfortunately, he settled for a measly, tedious job at the convenience store after graduation to 'experience real life first, before deciding on a degree'. Rin went on to study nursing and midwifery at a university in Tokyo, because 'music wouldn't get her a full-time job that would cover all her living costs'.

"And I mean," she was saying to him one day, before she moved out, "I can still enjoy music on the side. I like nursing, and babies, so it's not too bad."

It was a pity that even Rin knew that not everyone would appreciate her wonderful talent; her clear, bright vocals and expressive piano skills. The world was a cruel place, a cruel place indeed.

He was reflecting on that exact conversation, that exact thought, when a phone call came.

From the kitchen, he could hear his mother's voice from somewhere in the house, distressed and loud. "In ICU? _What?_ Is she okay?" A beat, then, "Alright. I'm on my way."

Her aged face appeared in front of him, and she was waving her hands around, her handbag in one and her coat in the other. "Your sister is in the hospital," she told him. "She just underwent emergency surgery."

Rin was never one to be ill, so he was met with uncertainty and dread. "Why? What happened?"

"I'll explain in the car. Grab your shoes and a jacket."

He obeyed and followed her out the door, to the car, in which they drove in complete silence for the first

* * *

 **Happy Academic Notebook**

⭐️

 _I will give you times of sweet joy, in here happy memories live. Every day I am your companion, and I love it when you use me!_

⭐️

 **24 july**

Pins

Tissues

Snacks (yoghurt?)

Nasal spray

⭐️

 **2 august  
** 1101: building 59, rm 210 15th 9:30am - don't be late

 _Miku's birthday present ideas:  
_ 1\. Gift voucher (claire's?)  
2\. Matching clothes  
3\. Scrapbook  
4\. Idk

Don't forget optometrist appointment on thursday at 4:30pm.

You put on 3kgs last month, stop eating fried chicken.

⭐️

 **(undated)**

Stuck between seasons,

a cool breeze rustles the leaves—

the sun's rays peek through

⭐️

 **19 september**

Times been to hospital this year: 3

Times been, not for me: 3

It's 5:30am. I just want to sleep.

⭐️

 **25 september**

Friends I've lost: IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII III

Fuck that's a lot.

⭐️

 **1 october**

december 15. savings should pay for at least half of everything. probably that forest everyone goes to.

I will start drafting notes later.

⭐️

 **3 october**

Times been to hospital, and not for me: 4

I had a bad feeling.

⭐️

 **7 october**

Dear Miku,

I'm sorry things had to end up this way. I wish I could've been a better fr

⭐️

 **16 october**

I can't do it even though I should.

⭐️

 **(undated)**

Are you happy now? Are you happy now are you happy are you happy are you happy standing in everyone's tears are you happy are you happy fuck you why would yo u do this fuck you

:(

⭐️

 **21 november**

Pens

Snacks

Fashion tape

Nasal spray

don't follow me into the forest

⭐️

* * *

 **let me show you the hell of my heart**

 _my beloved femme fatale_

 _(now, i am your servant)_

.

.

.

She corners him in the dark of his bedroom, much like predator stalking prey. Her eyes, pale and empty, scanned his features with caution. He searched hers back in that fleeting moment, only to find a guarded mind, her secrets tucked behind a vacant expression.

 _(i'll steal yours away,_

"Who - who are you?" were the first words he managed, though they came out jumbled, verbal vomit.

Despite his lack of coherency, she seemed to understand, as if she could read his mind easy like a book.

"Me?" the female asked, her dark red pout parting, like petals to a rose. Eyelids momentarily fluttering in the direction of his desk, she smiled at the whites of his eyes. "An angel, my dear. Your guardian angel."

 _your heart,_

A crease formed in his forehead. "No, you're not," he said, following the direction her gaze had lingered moments before; to an ornament modelled after a heavenly figure.

She chuckled lowly, removing something from her pocket. A flash of silver left him blinded for a moment, before being pressed against his chest.

A quick glance down confirmed a machete, strategically placed above a major artery. If he moved, she could easily slice right through him.

"You're correct," she chided. "I'm not. But regardless of who I am, you're going to do what I say."

 _or maybe your soul?)_

He gulped, any drop of a retort drying up in his throat.

The woman held his gaze, as if reading into him once again; he a newspaper that held all the secrets of the world. "I've been watching you," she began after a moment of silence. "You know people. You have a lot of access to information I do not. You're trusted. You're highly respected. And… you're intelligent. Isn't that so, Len Kagamine?"

Long eyelashes casted dark shadows over pale skin, like spiders crawling across her cheeks.

"I, er…" he fumbled. "I…"

She pressed the knife further into his shirt, a stinging warning. She leant down to his face, a breath away from a kiss. " _Isn't that so, Len Kagamine?_ "

Panicked, he blurted, "Y- yes, it's so."

Satisfied with his answer, the girl let up some of the knife's pressure, sitting upright. "Good. That's what I wanted to hear."

A gloved hand found it's way to his face, cupping his cheek as if it were something fragile.

She gave him another smile, too forced and bright, too pretty for such sinister intention. "I like intelligent men, Len. I like men who can get me answers - who have the power to give me what I want. That's what you can do. So, I like _you_."

Her hand left to trail down his chest, down to his waist, fingers playing at the hem of his trousers.

Dark eyes looked up at him. "You like me too, right?" the woman then asked.

Len swallowed and gave her a curt nod in response.

"That's what I thought," she murmured, dropping her hand, briefly grazing over his upper thigh.

He released a shaky breath unwillingly, and to his demise, it didn't go unnoticed. The corners of her red lips quirked maliciously.

"So… if you give me what _I_ want, I'll give you what _you_ want. Seems pretty fair, right?"

He licked his lips, weighing the circumstances. Every part of him screamed _no_ \- except for his common sense, because she had a godforsaken knife to his chest and knew that if he disagreed she'd probably kill him.

* * *

 **AUTHOR NOTE**

Good news: While collating all of the above, I stumbled across the doc I saved all my old fics in. So now we can have Great Classics feature once again on this pitiable account. I'll probably give up trying to fix them though because some are _really_ old and the writing level in them is Disgusting.

Anyway, I'll probably stop uploading for today, and maybe for the next few days if I can gain some (inhales) SELF-CONTROL ( _SAIKEN DA TO IWARETAI YO, SHINKEN DA TO WE GOTTA GO_ -).

Also, it amazes me how fast people view my fics on here when I upload them... I forgot about That Popular (lol) Life (tm). Most of my other fics get like 1 view ever, rip me.


End file.
